Jeremy Lin to meet with Houston Rockets on Wednesday

Jeremy Lin will visit the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, two
people with knowledge of the plans said, and the New York Knicks
restricted free agent is expected to get a contract offer.

AP/Alan DiazFree-agent point guard Jeremy Lin is expected to meet with Houston on Wednesday, and will likely be offered a contract that the Knicks would have three days to try to match.

The
Rockets waived Lin last December and he was claimed by the Knicks,
turning into a breakout star when he landed the starting point guard
job. Now with Goran Dragic not expected to return, Houston may want Lin
back.

One of the people told The Associated Press on Tuesday the
Rockets are planning to make Lin a multiyear offer, though the Knicks
can match it and have said they intend to keep him. The people spoke on
condition of anonymity because the negotiations were to remain private.

The
Rockets liked Lin, but had Kyle Lowry and Dragic ahead of him and
needed to open a spot so they could add Samuel Dalembert to the roster.
So they waived Lin, a decision general manager Daryl Morey would later
write on Twitter that he regretted during Lin's sensational February
stretch that made him the biggest story in the NBA.

The undrafted
guard from Harvard, the NBA's first American-born player of Chinese or
Taiwanese decent, would fit nicely with the Rockets, who remain popular
in Asia even after former center Yao Ming's retirement.

But both
coach Mike Woodson and general manager Glen Grunwald have said the
Knicks planned to keep Lin, who averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists in
35 games, 25 starts, before his season ended because of surgery to
repair torn knee cartilage.

The Knicks may have to match two
offers to keep their starting backcourt intact. Landry Fields plans to
sign an offer sheet with the Toronto Raptors that his agency said is
worth about $20 million over three years.

The Knicks are looking
for veteran point guard help, hoping to land Steve Nash, but they don't
want to lose Lin, whose popularity made them fans around the world and
had merchandise flying off the shelves at Madison Square Garden. They
scored their highest TV ratings in years during the height of
"Linsanity."

Deals can't be signed until July 11. The Knicks would then have three days to match.